We use a dense, complete redshift survey, the Smithsonian Hectospec Lensing Survey (SHELS), covering a 4deg^2^ region of a deep imaging survey, the Deep Lens Survey (DLS), to study the optical spectral properties of Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) 22{mu}m selected galaxies. Among 507 WISE 22{mu}m selected sources with (S/N)_22{mu}m_>=3 ({approx}S_22{mu}m_>~2.5mJy), we identify the optical counterparts of 481 sources (~98%) at R<25.2 in the very deep, DLS R-band source catalog. Among them, 337 galaxies at R<21 have SHELS spectroscopic data. Most of these objects are at z<0.8. The infrared (IR) luminosities are in the range 4.5x10^8^(L_{sun}_)<~L_IR_<~5.4x10^12^(L_{sun}_). Most 22{mu}m selected galaxies are dusty star-forming galaxies with a small (<1.5) 4000{AA} break. The stacked spectra of the 22 {mu}m selected galaxies binned in IR luminosity show that the strength of the [O III] line relative to H{beta} grows with increasing IR luminosity. The optical spectra of the 22{mu}m selected galaxies also show that there are some (~2.8%) unusual galaxies with very strong [Ne III] {lambda}3869, 3968 emission lines that require hard ionizing radiation such as active galactic nuclei (AGNs) or extremely young massive stars. The specific star formation rates (sSFRs) derived from the 3.6 and 22{mu}m flux densities are enhanced if the 22{mu}m selected galaxies have close late-type neighbors. The sSFR distribution of the 22{mu}m selected galaxies containing AGNs is similar to the distribution for star-forming galaxies without AGNs. We identify 48 dust-obscured galaxy candidates with large (>~1000) mid-IR to optical flux density ratio. The combination of deep photometric and spectroscopic data with WISE data suggests that WISE can probe the universe to z~2.
We present a new optical imaging survey of supernova remnants (SNRs) in M83 (NGC 5236), using data obtained with the Magellan I 6.5m telescope and IMACS instrument under conditions of excellent seeing. Using the criterion of strong [SII] emission relative to H{alpha}, we confirm all but three of the 71 SNR candidates listed in our previous survey, and expand the SNR candidate list to 225 objects, more than tripling the earlier sample. Comparing the optical survey with a new deep X-ray survey of M83 with Chandra, we find that 61 of these SNR candidates have X-ray counterparts. We also identify an additional list of 46 [OIII]-selected nebulae for follow-up as potential ejecta-dominated remnants, seven of which have associated X-ray emission that makes them strong candidates. Some of the other [OIII]-bright objects could also be normal interstellar medium (ISM) dominated SNRs with shocks fast enough to doubly ionize oxygen, but with H{alpha} and [SII] emission faint enough to have been missed. A few of these objects may also be HII regions with abnormally high [OIII] emission compared with the majority of M83 HII regions, compact nebulae excited by young Wolf-Rayet stars, or even background active galactic nuclei. The SNR H{alpha} luminosity function in M83 is shifted by a factor of ~4.5 times higher than for M33 SNRs, indicative of a higher mean ISM density in M83. We describe the search technique used to identify the SNR candidates and provide basic information and finder charts for the objects.
We examined all of the IRAS sources within the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory (FCRAO) Outer Galaxy Survey (OGS) region for associated ^12^CO emission (as accounted for in the Brunt, Kerton, and Pomerleau (2003, in press) catalogue of ^12^CO emission in the OGS). Table 1 provides a ranked listing of IRAS-CO associations and Table 2 provides a listing of those IRAS sources with no CO associations. In order to rank the various IRAS-CO associations we examined the association of random lines of sight with CO emission in the OGS. The resulting expectation numbers are provided to the reader in Table A1.
The U.S. Naval Observatory is in the process of making new reductions of the Astrographic Catalogue (AC) using a modern reference system, the ACRS, which represents the system of the FK5. The data from the Oxford 2 Zone, whose plates are centered between declinations +32 and +33 degrees (eq. 1900), have been analyzed for scale, rotation, tilt, coma, magnitude equation, radial distortion and distortions introduced by the use of reseaux in the Carte du Ciel program. The result is a positional catalog of over 117,000 stars on eq. J2000.0, epoch of observation. Additionally, all stars have been matched with the Tycho Input Catalog (revised); those numbers have been added for additional identification purposes.
The U.S. Naval Observatory is in the process of making new reductions of the Astrographic Catalogue (AC) using a modern reference system, the ACRS, which represents the system of the FK5. The data from the Oxford 1 Zone, whose plates are centered between declinations +25 and +31 degrees (eq. 1900), have been analyzed for scale, rotation, tilt, coma, magnitude equation, radial distortion and distortions introduced by the use of reseaux in the Carte du Ciel program. The result is a positional catalog of over 277,000 stars on eq. J2000.0, epoch of observation. Additionally, all stars have been matched with the Tycho Input Catalog (revised); those numbers have been added for additional identification purposes.
The MEarth survey is a search for small rocky planets around the smallest, nearest stars to the Sun as identified by high proper motion with red colors. We augmented our planetary search time series with lower cadence astrometric imaging and obtained two million images of approximately 1800 stars suspected to be mid-to-late M dwarfs. We fit an astrometric model to MEarth's images for 1507 stars and obtained trigonometric distance measurements to each star with an average precision of 5mas. Our measurements, combined with the Two Micron All Sky Survey photometry, allowed us to obtain an absolute K_s_ magnitude for each star. In turn, this allows us to better estimate the stellar parameters than those obtained with photometric estimates alone and to better prioritize the targets chosen to monitor at high cadence for planetary transits. The MEarth sample is mostly complete out to a distance of 25pc for stars of type M5.5V and earlier, and mostly complete for later type stars out to 20pc. We find eight stars that are within 10pc of the Sun for which there did not exist a published trigonometric parallax distance estimate. We release with this work a catalog of the trigonometric parallax measurements for 1507 mid-to-late M dwarfs, as well as new estimates of their masses and radii.
